Abstract. Ecological tourism in especially protected natural territories has a high potential for their development. The ecotourism is designed to satisfy, on the one hand, the human need for communication with the nature, studying the culture, and, on the other hand, to solve economic and nature protection problems of the remote regions. Tendencies of development of ecotourism are determined by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) according to which forecasting this type of tourism is among the main strategic directions of world development for the period till 2020. According to expert evaluations, the quantity of the population anxious with the state of nature, continuously grows. Ecological tourism and its principles reflect a concept of sustainable development: preserving the ethnographic status of the entertaining territory, preserving the entertaining natural territories biological diversity; increasing the level of economic stability and ecological culture of participants ecological and tourist activities. This industry is capable to create outer positive effects: it doesn’t lead to physical destruction of

biological resources; it assumes growth of educational level of tourists and the population of the host country; it gives the chance of real attraction of the equity for development of reserves. The rich natural heritage, a variety of flora and fauna represent unique opportunities for development of ecotourism in Russia.

Key words: ecological tourism, reserve, management, development, economic profit.